Lawmakers and the White House dug in Tuesday for a long fight as the first federal government shutdown in nearly two decades showed no signs of breaking, increasing the likelihood it will become entangled in an even larger battle over the Treasury's ability to pay the government's bills.

U.S. stocks rose despite the government shutdown as investors said it would take a prolonged halt to rattle Wall Street.

Other Funding Gaps

ENLARGE

President Barack Obama pointed the finger at House Republicans for their efforts to scale back or dismantle the 2010 health law, the Affordable Care Act. "They've shut down the government over an ideological crusade to deny affordable health insurance to millions of Americans," Mr. Obama said from the White House Rose Garden.

House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) pinned the blame on his adversaries, saying, "Senate Democrats today slammed the door on reopening the federal government by refusing to talk."

House Republicans launched a new strategy aimed at increasing pressure on Senate Democrats to negotiate with them, only to see it fail in their own chamber Tuesday night. GOP leaders brought forward a series of short-term bills to finance small parts of the government, including veterans services and national parks, through Dec. 15.

None of the bills garnered the two-thirds support needed under an expedited process chosen to highlight House Democrats' unwillingness to fund the popular programs under the Republican plan. GOP lawmakers said they might bring up the bills again later this week in a fashion that would make them easier to pass with just the Republican majority.

The lack of negotiations between the two parties and the White House raises the possibility that the partisan divisions that have brought the government to a standstill could impede the ability of the Treasury to pay the government's bills beyond mid-October. Congress has to approve an increase in the federal debt ceiling by then, and failure to do so could bring broader and more troublesome consequences for the U.S. and global economies than the partial government shutdown.

ENLARGE

Workers erected a barrier around the Lincoln Memorial on Tuesday as the government shutdown closed national parks, curtailed the work of federal agencies and put more than 800,000 employees on furlough.
Jewel Samad/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

"The sad news is that, given the performance to date, that the debt limit extension is coming up in two weeks, and this does not portend responsible action on the debt limit,'' said House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (D., Md.).

Added Sen. Richard Shelby (R., Ala.): "Every day we are here, the calendars are running together."

The shutdown was sparked because Republicans were determined to scale back the Affordable Care Act before the insurance marketplaces opened. The GOP-led House refused to fund federal agencies for the new fiscal year, which began Tuesday, without attaching provisions to delay the health law or otherwise curb its reach. The Democratic-controlled Senate rejected each of those efforts.

The Senate also rejected on Tuesday a House measure, approved in the early hours of Tuesday morning, that the two chambers assign a small group of lawmakers to resolve the budget differences. That measure also included curbs on the health law, including a one-year delay in its requirement that individuals carry health insurance.

The idea of passing a series of narrowly tailored spending bills was floated by Mr. Boehner at a closed-door strategy session with rank-and-file lawmakers. Republicans said it showed their interest in trying to blunt the effects of the shutdown.

While speaking in the Rose Garden to mark the first day of the Affordable Care Act, President Obama implored congressional Republicans to end the shutdown and reopen the Federal Government.

Government Shuts Down

With no budget deal by the midnight deadline, the government shutdown was felt throughout the country Tuesday, from closed museums and national parks to the furloughing of employees deemed nonessential.

A sign announced the closure of the Statue of Liberty, a U.S. National Park, in Battery Park, New York, . Mike Segar/Reuters

From the Archives

Congress finally ran out of ways to patch over its differences. Unable to meet a midnight Monday deadline for funding the government, lawmakers allowed it to shut down. Colleen McCain Nelson reports. Photo: Getty Images.

"It's going to get the aspects of government open that I think most people are concerned about and, along the way, it'll signify to the American people that we're serious about keeping the government open," said Rep. Matt Salmon (R., Ariz.).

But Senate Democrats rejected the strategy, saying their goal was to reopen the entire government. "People shouldn't have to choose between help for our veterans and cancer research," said Sen. Charles Schumer (D., N.Y.). Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) called it "another wacky idea'' from the GOP, and said: "If they think they're going to come and nitpick us on this, it won't work."

The idea echoed a proposal floated in the past week by Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) to pass individual spending bills in an effort put pressure on the Democratic-controlled Senate.

Some centrist Republicans showed fresh anxiety about the GOP strategy of allowing the government to shut down rather than abandoning the party's demands for Democrats to agree to changes to the health-care law.

Rep. Scott Rigell (R., Va.) said he now wanted GOP leaders to end the spending standoff and pass a bill shorn of health-care riders. He said he worried about the "economic pain" from the shutdown and concluded that "the wiser path was to recognize that the time had come to fund the government fully."

Other Republicans—including Mr. Boehner himself, in the past—have favored waging their fight for major changes in the health-care law not as part of the short-term extension of government spending but on the coming debt-limit fight.

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) on Tuesday cited the debt-limit bill as the most likely vehicle for negotiations over broad debt-reduction initiatives. "That's what we think will be the forcing mechanism" to craft a deficit-reduction measure later this year, he said at a news event called to focus on the government-funding standoff.

The White House and Senate Democrats have refused to negotiate conditions for Congress passing the debt limit, saying Congress had a responsibility to allow the Treasury to pay bills that lawmakers had already incurred. "This is not a concession to me," Mr. Obama said Tuesday. "It is not some demand that's unreasonable that I'm making. This is what Congress is supposed to do as a routine matter."

However, White House officials signaled that Mr. Obama would negotiate with Republicans on their broader budget concerns and possibly some tweaks to the health-care law if Congress approved a temporary extension of government funding and debt-limit increase to give officials time for talks. Details of how such an agreement would work were unclear.

One official said the White House would like, in particular, to address broad budget cuts known as the sequester, but also said there are some tax issues on which Mr. Obama and Republicans could reach a compromise.

Congress is not a rubber stamp for the spending desires of the President or the past ill-considered partisan laws passed by former congresses. A minority has rights, particularly when that minority is footing the bill. If the big government lovers of both parties want to continue flushing three trillion down the toilet each year without delay, they'll have to compromise on one small aspect of that spending, as well as delay the privacy intrusion known as the individual mandate. It's only their fair share of power-sharing.

This is exactly why the founders and framers of the US Const. divided government, an aspect of American exceptionalism Communist never fail to understand.

Sure Congress is acting selfishly, and the individual members in particular. To preserve their jobs, they're voting for things they know amount to nothing and actually interfere with the running of our government. Fine. We will speak the language these Congressmen understand best: We'll vote 'em out, en masse. If keeping their jobs has become paramount to actually doing it, they shouldn't have it in the first place. We elected these folks to run our country -- first and foremost. Over and over they've refused to do so. No problem. We'll elect those who will.

Rather than delay the individual mandate, Obama and the Democrats chose to shut down government. Now millions will face penalties due to Obamacare. The so-calledAffordable Care Act has been the source of widespread reduction to the work week from 40 hours to part time hours. ObamaCare has also been the most partisan legislation passed in this century.http://thinkpoint.wordpress.com/2013/10/01/the-presidents-speech/

Obama and the American people need to hijack the republican party and dissolve it. They are dirtbags, plain and simple. This anti-American party of crooks have caused damage long enough.The problem is that Democrats are far too lax and easy on them. It's time to alienate all republicans from society and watch them burn!!!

Yesterday's Quinnipiac poll shows voters blame the Republicans 3 to 1 over the current crisis, and give the Democrats a 9 point lead in a generic Congressional race (which is more than enough for the Dems to take back the House). Today's poll shows that Hillary would beat Cruz 54-31 after his marathon performance.

The Dems have no reason to compromise. For them the longer this drags out the better.

(One could say that the polls are wrong/skewed/biased, but I seem to recall a fair number of Republicans saying that last year. Didn't work out quite like they thought it would.)

Government shut down kind of like giving a party where no one shows up. As I once told one of my very vocal government employee staff in 1980, who wanted to form a union and go on strike - "Heck that is a bad idea - you could be gone for years and no one would miss you!"

The Republicans and the people can win this. I see the EPA has declared only 7% of their workers "essential". If they do this with all agencies they can keep the shutdown going forever, create a surplus, force the agencies to triage to only necessary functions, and make the Democrats the minority party for a generation,plus get rid of Obamacare. Then follow through by closing the back door by refusing to raise the debt limit at a time when the lights are coming on that we should be voting every six months to lower it. Let's see the size of their cojones. P. S. I am a Democrat, but an old farmer-labor Democrat, not an abortoqueer Democrat.

The uninsured are lining up. The want free health care rather than real insurance.

When they consider the cost the real test of Obamacare will become evident to them. Republicans are faced with a challenge of showing these applicants the true cost of Obamacare . . and that is A government run health care system AKA socialized medicine.

They may feel comfortable with their doctor working for the government. Will they still feel comfortable when their doctor goes on strike or during the next government closing?

Many GOP types are hoping for some serious hardship for those who work in any capacity with the US federal government.

Me too.

It's not that I'm a Republican, a Tea Party whacko, a born-again Christian or a conservative, it's that if real hardship hits millions of American families, as a result of this Tea Party stunt, the GOP may never occupy the White House again...the party of Lincoln could implode over this....let us hope and pray for that.

Time is on Obama and the Democrat's side...let this thing drag out...it can only hurt the Republican Party in the long run....they let a freshman Senator from Texas, Ted Cruz, the new Joe McCarthy, take over the GOP's agenda....the fools.

This Governement shut down feels very good. If they are out long enough maybe we can have a day we take in more taxes than we spend. . A step in the right direction would be the permanent elimination of all none essential government personell, shut off the lights, collect all the Govt. car keys, sell all the assets. Drive a stake in this Zombie while it is searching for new life.

Pharmaceutical drugs is the # 1 killer . The new war on drugs will be Obamacare and birth defects . Obamacare given free drugs online . will add to addiction and methadone clinics rise in a town near you . Addition to drugs will cause birth defects for profits . USA on Drugs..25000 new government employees at the expense of Americans 150 translators needed to translate Obamacare…in 2 years the democrats will be responsible for outsourcing jobs overseas for medical devices to pharmaceutical drugs and people will sign up online to get their drugs and entitlements will rise like never before, Pres.Obama will launder tax money to the E.U. We can not afford Obamacare with out having the Borders secure and illegals selling drugs in the U.S.. I was Assaulted by a Hospital in Romneycare Massachusetts kept to fill a Hospital bed for 2 days for Profits and the cure was only antibiotics and a bandaid . But was abused and assaulted to fill a bed to even having to walk out because of they wanted to put me to sleep bill $9500. Went to another state to get help without having to stay more then 2 hrs total Bill $465 ! With a Doctor’s statement on the Abuse from a Hospital in Massachusetts from Romneycare and their fraud ! Government in the Healthcare business is like given drug dealers a license ..

Seems to me the best way for the Republicans to apply pressure to the Democrats is to announce that laid off government workers will NOT be made whole (as happened the last time around).

Government workers are overwhelmingly Democrats (and will NEVER vote for Republicans). If these workers are made to understand that they're not getting extra paid vacation days -- that this shutdown really hurts them permanently -- then they'll pressure their union reps who will pressure Harry Reid.

If the picture of the three guys putting up a fence at the Lincoln Memorial doesn't say it all about this shutdown, nothing does. Three guys to do a two man job, putting up a fence that doesn't need to be put up, which will be taken down, probably by six guys, in another week. Brilliant.

FTA "However, White House officials signaled that Mr. Obama would negotiate with Republicans on their broader budget concerns and possibly some tweaks to the health-care law if Congress approved a temporary extension of government funding and debt-limit increase to give officials time for talks." --------------- They learned this delaying trick from the Iranians. Obama has made it quite clear from day one in office... He does not negotiate with Republicans, only dictators and terrorists.

Who chose to shut it down ? You don't like the law, meathead, find yourself 67 senators to repeal it as the Constitution prescribes. This is all onthe tea potty loonies and their tool, Boehner, who is apparentlyafraid of these misfits. What a gutless schmuck you have for a speaker.

Yeah, accessible to vandals....graffiti "artists"....and terrorists....I think that fencing them off and posting guards is prudent and reasonable....lots of nut-jobs out there.

If Obama left the monuments and parks open and unguarded, the righties would still complain; claiming that BHO hates America's national parks and monuments and has left them vulnerable to the bad guys....no matter what,, the Obama haters are never satisfied with the man or his actions.

If there is a hereafter, LBJ is probably not in a good place....he orchestrated and escalated the US military involvement in SE Asia - he sent the troops out on a fool's mission....but it didn't end there.

There is some circumstantial evidence that points to some level of LBJ's complicity in the murder of JFK and the botched Dallas police job that resulted in the snuffing of the gunman, Oswald, before he could be adequately questioned by federal authorities....and then LBJ oversaw the cover-up.

JFK had sent a letter to Israeli PM Ben Gurion in May of 1963, in which he demanded access to the nuclear facilities at Dimona. Ben Gurion immediately resigned rather than comply. Six months later, JFK was shot and killed in LBJ's Texas. Was the Mossad behind the assassination of JFK? Was LBJ in cahoots with the Mossad?

Israel benefited from JFK's removal....LBJ gave Israel tacit approval to go ahead with their nuclear WMD program at Dimona.....the rest is history....Israel has an arsenal of nukes and the means to deliver them on target quickly.....and Israel is constantly claiming that it faces numerous, "existential threats".....this is not a comforting situation.

When the Israelis attacked the USS Liberty, in a prolonged air & sea attack on June 8, 1967, killing 34 US sailors and maiming dozens more, LBJ quickly forgave the Israelis. LBJ then oversaw the shortest Naval Inquiry of its type in US history...it was a quick whitewash....what did the Israelis have on LBJ that made him so docile?

If there is a hell, odds are good that LBJ is a permanent resident there....IMO, LBJ was one of the worst, if not the worst POTUS in US history.

Well said, James. Mr. Boehner and the professional GOP folks in Congress could still save the day for the Party of Lincoln: they could kick all of the Tea Partiers in Congress out of the GOP Caucus and work to the Center with conservative and moderate Democrats to tackle the real problems - bu sidelining the radical reactionaries who believe in governance by extortion they would boost their standing and be able to offer leadership and a chance at recapturing the Senate....otherwise I am afraid they are doomed to become the new Dixiecrats....

You are correct. I am a fed and union. The government is so over-run with so many commie Demokrats it's not even funny. The fascist Republikans are not much better by the way. The Repubs are like poop with their over-priced outsourcing to contractors and the Dems are like diarrhea with their "let's swell the government up like a balloon" policies.

Greg....are you a Jihadist sympathizer? Obviously, you hate the President of the United States and all the secular liberals living here...you share that sentiment with Al Qaeda and their Islamist cohorts. Is it the fact that BHO is a black man, living in the White House? Or are you claiming that a black family is occupying the White House illegally?

Risk sentiment took a turn for the worse overnight, with S&P futures erasing all of Tuesday’s gains to trade near a four-week low. Given the US government shutdown and fast-approaching debt limit deadline, volatility with a negative bias looks the likely mix for markets in days ahead. Thank you, Teapots.

Stephen, here's a newsflash: private business routinely featherbeds work and passes on its costs to you the consumer. And why do we need to have the fence? To prevent crime, prevent folks from entering public property that is not supervised and running the risk of injuries which the Government is on the hook for, and mitigate trash inasmuch as we're under Tea Party Governance by Attempted Extortion.

Greg, the man is basically accusing the POTUS of treason...of dealing with dictators and being an Iranian lackey...so, I threw the flag, so to speak...no, I did not flag the post as abusive...I'm just calling the Tea Party dude out.

Because it all needs to come down to emotions for you. In that simple progressive mind, there is no room for record deficits and debt, no place for record unemployment and poverty, just no processing ability to see the future under Obama.

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com.